Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 358 - 171: Pitching the Tent

Murphy continued, speaking quickly.

"I know the Democratic National Committee’s concerns, and I know the difficult position you’re in."

"So, we don’t need to turn them into *those* kinds of Democrats."

"We don’t need them to support environmental issues, nor do we need them to march against guns."

"We can give them a new definition."

Murphy held up one finger.

"The Blue-collar Core Team."

"It’s a special caucus established within the Pennsylvania Democratic Party."

"We’ll make a deal with them: on economic issues—on matters like infrastructure development, job security, and trade protectionism—they must follow the Whip’s lead and stand with us."

"But on cultural issues, on those sensitive social value questions..."

Murphy made a gesture.

"We let them vote their conscience."

"We’ll allow them to continue opposing gun control in Erie, and we’ll allow them to continue supporting shale gas drilling in Scranton."

"Publicly, we’ll claim it’s about respecting local diversity, about uniting all possible forces to fight against Wall Street’s exploitation."

"This is the big tent strategy."

"We need to stretch the tent wide enough to hold both the university professors from Philadelphia and the steelworkers from Erie."

Murphy stared at the screen.

"Senator, you always talk about mobilizing the working class."

"Right now, the real working class is at our door."

"They may be coarse, they may be conservative, and they may not drink oat milk, but they are workers."

"If you turn them away, then what kind of working-class party are we?"

The car jolted, but Murphy remained sitting steadily.

Leo looked at Murphy, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

Roosevelt’s voice rang in Leo’s mind.

’Well done.’

’Leo, this is the taste of power.’

’It can change a person down to their very marrow.’

’A few months ago, John Murphy was just another mediocre politician, trembling at the thought of losing the primary. He was used to taking orders, used to going with the flow from a back-row seat in Washington.’

’But now, look at him.’

’He dares to look Daniel Sanders in the eye, dares to propose his own political framework to a faction leader, and even dares to force his superior’s hand by redefining the rules.’

’What changed him?’

’Was it the five hundred million US Dollars in bonds? The port that’s under construction? Or the workers cheering for him from the crowd?’

’It was all of those things, and none of them.’

’The real change came when he realized he was the one holding the hilt of the knife.’

’When a man discovers he has the power to decide another’s fate—even their political fate—his spine naturally straightens.’

’Power gave him confidence, and it gave him wisdom. The reaction speed to instantly construct a political compromise like the Blue-collar Core Team is something the old, good-natured Murphy could never have managed.’

’These are the tactics of Senator Murphy.’

On the other end of the screen, Sanders fell silent.

He sat in his Washington office, his eyes narrowed slightly, scrutinizing Murphy through the camera.

He seemed to be reassessing Murphy’s value.

The silence lasted for over ten seconds before Sanders finally spoke.

He didn’t agree immediately. Instead, he frowned and asked a question.

"John."

Sanders’s voice was low, with a hint of inquiry.

"Answer a question for me."

"This so-called Blue-collar Core Team plan, and the specific procedures for accepting this group of Republican Mayors."

"Did you discuss it with Leo beforehand?"

"Is this some script the two of you wrote long ago, designed specifically to force my signature at this very moment?"

It was a question that cut straight to his motives.

If this was premeditated, it would mean Murphy and Leo were deeply calculating, perhaps even scheming against him.

But if it was improvised on the spot, the meaning was entirely different.

Murphy froze for a moment.

He clearly hadn’t expected Sanders to ask this.

"No, Senator."

Murphy shook his head, a candid expression on his face.

"I swear, we didn’t."

"Before this, I didn’t even know Leo could get these Mayors on board. I thought we were still stuck in a dead end."

On his end of the call, Leo chimed in, corroborating Murphy’s account.

"Senator, John is telling the truth."

Leo glanced at the wall clock.

"Ron Smith and the others agreed to leave the Republican Party and join us. That happened ten minutes ago."

"Right here in this office."

"Representative Murphy only learned this news the moment I reported it to him."

"Which means..."

Leo pointed at Murphy on the screen.

"Everything about how to place these people, how to establish the Blue-collar Core Team to circumvent the party’s ideological vetting, and how to use this opportunity to leverage the statewide election..."

"All of these strategic concepts... he came up with them on the fly, over the past ten minutes, during this video call."

Hearing this, Sanders’s pupils contracted slightly.

The way he looked at Murphy changed completely.

Ten minutes.

Just ten minutes.

Faced with a sudden, massive development—one capable of shattering the party’s existing order—Murphy hadn’t called Washington for instructions like he used to.

He not only absorbed the information instantly but also precisely seized the political opportunity within it. And in an extremely short amount of time, he constructed a complete political plan that was logically coherent and balanced the interests of all parties.